After a rough beginning, Nigel Hayes turned himself and his team around in route to a fourth consecutive sweet 16, capping his senior season with a game-winning shot and earning the title of the Badger Herald’s Male Athlete of the Year.
Throughout the year, Nigel Hayes became one of the biggest question marks for the Badgers, struggling to find his jumper and proving to be a liability at the line. As the season wore on, Wisconsin fans longed for the player they saw in the second half of the 2015-16 season when he led a young team to the Sweet 16, or the sophomore who stole the show on the Badger’s run to the NCAA championship.